FanPost

With the First Pick in the Draft should the Oakland Raiders take Marcus Mariota?

If the Oakland Raiders have the first pick in the draft should they draft Marcus Mariota out of Oregon?

This is not a topic made to bash on Derek Carr. In fact the reason I have made this topic is because of Derek Carr, and the promise he has shown on and off the field. Last year if we had drafted WR Jordan Matthews in the second round it would be a no-brainer to draft Mariota. However, with the selection of Carr the Raiders may have finally found a quarterback of the future. The key part of that last sentence is may have.

Derek Carr has shown us all a lot of promise, his arm strength, athleticism, maturity, ability to audible, pocket awareness, and leadership are all signs of a franchise QB the Oakland Raiders need right now. However, promise doesn't always equate to wins and as of right now Derek Carr is 0 and 4 as a starter, but lets put that into perspective:

(* = debatable)


A) Derek Carr is a rooke quarterback.
B) Derek Carr doesn't have the weapons or tools needed to win.
C) Derek Carr's head coach just got fired four games into his first season.
D) Derek Carr is facing the hardest strength of schedule in the NFL.
F*) Derek Carr's playbook doesn't utilize his strengths to their fullest.

As of right now it is too hard to tell if Derek Carr is being held back and truly is the franchise QB we have been searching for. If he is great, but if he is not and two years down the road we realize it and regret not using that first pick on Mariota, that would hurt... A lot... It's not every year that a team has a supposed franchise quarterback fall into their laps with the first pick. Look at the last two drafts. However if we are holding the the number one pick come draft day we may very well have franchise QB in Mariota waiting there for us. Marcus Mariota holds many qualitites of an NFL franchise QB much like Carr, but has shown more in college (breakdown of Mariota here). However, Carr is already showing us some of these things at the NFL level. My question to you all is are you willing to risk not drafting Mariota and stick it out with Carr, or would you prefer to draft Mariota, and let him and Carr duke it out till the best man wins?